Fair Game

This film was about CIA agent Valerie Plame whose identity was leaked by the government when her husband, Ambassador Joseph Wilson, wrote articles about how the government had mislead the public about the reasons for invading Iraq.

It was very interesting. It would have been better with less profanity though.

How Do You Know

This film focuses on three characters that each wonder how they know when they are in love. It looked better in the trailers than it actually was. And, there were several uses of the F word.

I'd recommend skipping this one.

Hereafter

This was a pretty sad movie about death. Matt Damon's character can communicate with the dead. This "gift" has made his life very difficult, as he learns things about the living that they might not want him to know. Or, they can't get past his ability and they use him to communicate with loved ones.

The movie also focuses on a few other people that have dealt with death. Once you saw these characters, you knew they were going to have to face death in some way. It was a pretty emotional movie.

X2: X-Men United

I haven't seen the first X-Men movie, but we had some time to kill on a recent vacation, so we decided to watch this. Maybe watching it without having seen the first movie was a mistake, but I really didn't like X2. It wasn't bad enough that I turned it off, but it was just silly. And Wolverine's hair was totally distracting.

Ondine

Colin Farrell plays a down and out fisherman in Ireland. One day he catches a woman in his net. She was nearly dead, but refused to go to the hospital. She said she didn't remember her name, and said to call her Ondine (meaning of the sea). Her singing brings Colin luck. Colin's daughter (who lives with his alcoholic ex-wife) believes that the woman is really a selkie (a mythical lady of the sea).

The movie was interesting, although a bit strange.

Deja Vu

Deja Vu opens with a tragic ferry explosion. Denzel Washington's character works for ATF and is involved in the investigation. A group working for the government has developed some technology that allows them to bend time (kind of) and they can look back on things 4 days before. They follow some leads Denzel has and are able to use the technology to help solve the crime, with the hope that they might be able to prevent it.

So, it's a bit strange, and some parts are just gross, but the acting was good and it kept my attention (although I was looking away a time or two).

Unstoppable

"Unstoppable" stars Denzel Washington and Chris Pine. Both work for the railroad. There is a runaway freight train that is headed into very populated area. Its freight is quite dangerous, and many lives are at stake. Denzel and Chris come up with a plan to try to stop the train.

Overall the movie was pretty enjoyable. Matt was put off by some of the seemingly casual conversation during the moments that should have been only tense. I didn't care for some of the railroad language.

Jane Eyre

I recently listened to the "Jane Eyre" audiobook, and LOVED the story. It was quite long, but such an interesting story (especially considering that it was written in the mid-1800s). I immediately Googled what movies were available, and found that a new version was just coming out. I was so excited to see it! Then I found out that it was a limited release. But, after a month or so, it came to a local theater and I got some friends together to watch it with me.

Although the movie starts in the middle of the story and uses flashbacks to cover Jane's early life, I thought it was well done. I think almost everything important was included. Unfortunately, the end was HORRIBLE! So short, and Mr. Rochester was gagable in his unkempt appearance.

My friends and I decided we need to have another girls' night to watch the 2006 BBC version.

You Again

One word can describe this movie pretty well . . . PAINFUL!

Again, another show that the trailer makers did a great job; however, it bit, and it bit hard.

The acting was ok, but . . . the overall movie was just bad.

Marni was a major nerd in high school, and was teased mercilessly by Joanna (beautiful cheerleader). But, she's become successful in her job and life is going well. She comes home for her brother's wedding, and it turns out he's marrying Joanna. Things get awkward.

Marni's mom tries to get her to focus on the present instead of the past, and gets her past thrown in her face when her ex-best friend ends up being Joanna's aunt. More awkwardness.

Revenge, awkwardness. Attempted revenge, more awkwardness. Funky wedding planner that has a thing for singing and dancing, more awkwardness.

AVOID THIS MOVIE!

The Dilemma

This show isn't worth watching. I caved due to a free baby-sitter (thanks Ash) and Kevin James (Hitch, King of Queens). However, the movie was just one awkward situation after another. I did know going into it that Vince Vaughn's character sees his best friend (Keven James' character)'s wife with another guy, and he's torn about telling his friend. But, the trailer made it look like a good show. Those trailer makers sure do a good job getting people in seats, even when the movie really bites.

Channing Tatum is in this too. I'd only seen him in "Dear John", and I thought his character in that show was a pretty good guy (withstood Amanda Seyfried's blatant temptations when she was married to someone else). "Dear John" ruined Amanda Seyfried for me, and "The Dilemma" ruined Channing Tatum for me. I'm not sure why I continue to watch anything with Vince Vaughn though. His movies seem to be all sorts of awkward situations. Kevin James isn't totally ruined for me yet. I may just have to stick to watching King of Queen's reruns though.

True Grit

Matt took me to see this on my birthday. True, it's more of a Matt-film than and Andrea-film, but it was very well done.

The acting was great. Although, Matt Damon with a mustache and a funky Texas Ranger accent didn't do anything for me.

The non-use of contractions was odd. It took a little bit to figure out what was so squirly about how they were talking, but once you noticed,
it was distracting. I imagine that this was done based on people really not using contractions back in the day. I'm quite a fan of contractions.

Some of the scenes were a bit violent for my taste (ie. I closed by eyes, but not soon enough-dang knife and fingers part).

I'm not sure that I'd recommend it, because of a few graphic violence scenes, but it was well done.

Tangled

I took the kids to see this over Zoie's Christmas break. Zoie and I really liked it, and Jonas kept asking to leave.

I would definitely see it again, and we will probably own it at some point. It was probably a little more enjoyable for me because the actor who does the voice for Flynn (the main male character) is the guy who plays Chuck in the TV show Chuck.

Extraordinary Measures

This is a touching story about a father who fights to help find a cure for Pompe disease, which two of his children have. Their bodies are shutting down, and they don't have much longer to live.

It was a good story. I think it was well done, although you do have to see Harrison Ford running at one point and that's disturbing. ;)

I'm not sure that I loved it, but it was a good story.

Salt

The storyline for this movie was very interesting. Soviets had gotten their hands on American children when they were very young and trained them to be on their side to help overthrow governments when they were older. Somehow they got back to their parents or others to raise them (outside of the USSR), but they had this brainwashing instilled in them.

At the beginning of the movie, Angelina Jolie's character, Evelyn Salt (a CIA agent) is accused by a Russian of being one such Russian spy. She realizes her husband is in danger and runs from authorities to make sure he's ok.

The trailers for this movie made it look better than it was. But, it did keep me guessing. I had no idea if Salt was a good guy or a bad guy. Unfortunately, Jolie's fight scenes weren't very believable (and there were quite a few of them, so that was distracting). And, the movie is left wide open at the end.

The A-Team

The A-Team wasn't something I watched when I was little (I had other things on my mind when I was 3-6 years old). But, my husband was a fan, and rented this yesterday. When B.A. Baracus had his first scene, I said, "Mr. T", so that gives you and idea how familiar I am with the A-Team. ;)

Matt seemed a little disappointed in the film. I thought it was ok. I was in and out of the room changing laundry, and then I watched while I folded laundry.

Killers

I rented this a few weekends ago when Matt was out of town, because he had no desire to see it. However, I think he would have at least sort of liked it. It reminded me a lot of RED.

Ashton Kutcher plays an assassin who quits his job after meeting and falling in love with Jen (Katherine Heigl). They get married and have a happy life for three years or so, and then his old boss contacts him. He's not interested in getting back in his old line of work, but he suddenly finds himself on a kill list. People he thought were his friends, neighbors and co-workers are suddenly trying to kill him for a huge amount of money. His wife is very surprised, but fights alongside him.

So, it was an interesting show. I didn't love it, didn't hate it. People do get killed, and it's portrayed almost in a funny manner, which is just weird to me (since murder isn't funny).

Toy Story 3

This was a pretty cute continuation of the Toy Story movies, but it had some definite scary parts (ie the crazy monkey). Zoie (7) really liked it, but I think she left the room once. Jonas (3) left the room several times and hid on my lap once or twice too.

How to Train Your Dragon

Matt's parents gave this movie to Zoie for her birthday a few weeks ago and she really loves it. She and Jonas quote lines from it daily, and they've only seen it a handful of times.

Anyway, it was a cute cartoon about Vikings and dragons, and how the Vikings come to realize that they don't need to kill the dragons.

The voice of the main character was a total shock to me. It didn't really fit what I was expecting (it's the main character from Sorcerer's Apprentice, who has a Christian Slater-ish sound to his voice).

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

I was pretty excited to see the newest Harry Potter film. In anticipation I listened to the book. I know, I know, that can ruin a movie, but I hadn't read it since it came out in 2007, and I thought brushing up would be good.

For the most part I thought that the movie was pretty true to the book. There were some definite changes, but I found myself not bothered by most of them. I thought about why they didn't keep certain things by the book, and decided that most of what they did were time savers that still kept the main story line in tact.

My husband thought it was kind of boring, and I can see what he meant, although I didn't feel exactly the same way. I felt that the 7th book dragged on while Harry, Ron and Hermione are wandering around trying to find Horcruxes and hide. While some parts of the movie were a little slow moving, there was a lot of action.

Part of Matt's beef was that the whole 2 1/2 hour movie was spent finding and destroying one Horcrux. That's not all that happened, but as that is the main goal of the trio, it does seem like a lot of time spent on one item.

I thought where the movie ended was actually a pretty good spot. The trio had some success, so it wasn't leaving on a defeatist note (although they weren't the only ones with success, so there's the suspense angle).

Some of you may have been curious about nudity rumors you've heard. Having just listened to the book, I knew that the only nudity in the book would have been in Part II (near the end, and hopefully that part wouldn't be in the movie since it doesn't seem necessary-but when does Hollywood ever go for necessary). So, for a little refresher. The horcrux that the trio finds is a locket. They don't have the means to destroy it, and when they wear it it affects their moods (in a negative way). So, they take turns wearing it to carry the burden. When they finally get what they need to destroy the locket, Ron is the man given the task. But, the locket is trying to stop him, so he thinks all these things that aren't true (namely that Harry and Hermione have a relationship). With a bit of a cartoonish look to their images, you see Harry and Hermione apparently shirtless embracing and making out. Although I think the book did have a relationship between those two as one of Ron's fears, this definitely was not in the book. The shirtless-ness was totally unnecessary.

Anyway, I did like the movie, but it's not one for young kids that have probably seen the other movies. I'm looking forward to the final movie.

RED

I saw this the day after Thanksgiving, and I'm still trying to process it. Not process as in I didn't get it, but process as in decide if I liked it or not.

It's about Retired and Extremely Dangerous ex-CIA agents. A group of these "oldies" gets on a hit list, and they get together to fight for their lives and figure out who is behind the kill orders on them.

I was laughing quite a bit. My confusion was just that some of it seemed like things I shouldn't be laughing over. You know, like when a bad guy gets blown up.

My favorite part was probably when Bruce Willis stepped out of a moving police car he'd stolen and he steps out of the way just in time for it to spin past him while he goes to shoot the guy who is trying to kill him (I'm doing it no justice, but you can probably see that part in a trailer if you Google it).

City Island

Weird show that Matt picked. Rotten Tomatoes actually gave it a pretty good rating, but it was just strange. About a family that lives in City Island, Bronx, that doesn't communicate well at all. They all hide things from each other, and don't get along well. The dad, played by Andy Garcia, is a corrections officer and discovers that a new inmate is his son that he didn't know about. He takes him home, but doesn't tell the son or the rest of his family who the guy really is. Of course everything comes out in the end.

There were some entertaining and funny parts, but I wouldn't recommend it.

Remember Me

Horrible movie-don't waste your time. It's pretty depressing throughout, and will leave you needing to watch something else or read something or do whatever you can to get some happy thoughts in your mind.

Date Night

This movie is about a couple that's been married for several years, and their life is pretty routine. Get up, get ready, get the kids ready, go to work, come home, take care of kids, sleep. They get concerned about their marriage when they learn that some friends are getting divorced, and try to have a plan a date that is not the boring one they usually go on. Of course, everything goes wrong, and they end up being mistaken for a couple that is involved in some bad stuff. They're running from bad guys and have to pull together to survive the night.

There were a lot of funny parts. Things you could totally relate to in marriage, and just other funny things. Unfortunately, there was some language and a few other things that weren't great. If you could watch it edited, I'd definitely recommend it.

The Karate Kid

Nothing like the remake of a classic movie (can I use the word classic for a movie that was made in the 80s?).

Matt and I watched this with Rorie and Nate, and I'm not sure if we really liked the movie, or if it was just a fun one to watch with them. We were throwing out Karate Kid lines and stuffing our faces with junk food. Good times.

The remake was alright. Dre (not Daniel, played by Jaden Smith) and his mom move to China. The maintenance man (Jackie Chan) agrees to teach Dre Kung Fu after a beating by the mean boys in school. It followed the original in many ways, with just a few changes (names, locations, etc).

I didn't care for Dre's mouth. The kid is 12 for crying out loud (although I shouldn't have been surprised since he said the f word in The Pursuit of Happiness-a movie several years ago that he was in with his dad, Will Smith). Anyway, he wasn't dropping the F bomb in this one, but searing in any form, especially by young kids, is a turn off to me. The movie didn't have a lot of swearing-it just seems to stand out more when a kid is the one swearing.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

If you aren't into boogers and other young boy isms, AVOID THIS MOVIE!

Matt let Zoie choose this one, and it was painful to watch (I stayed in the room but I think I was reading a book or something else).

Just Wright

Leslie Wright is a physical therapist who is a major Nets fan. She meets Scott McNight at a gas station one night after a game. They hit it off, but like every other guy, he is just interested in being her friend. Her god-sister Morgan is looking to be the trophy wife of an NBA star, and McNight falls for her. Then McNight is injured during a game, and Leslie gets the job of being his physical therapist to get him playing again. When it looks like he might not recover, Morgan ditches him. Leslie pushes him hard and gets him playing again, and they fall for each other and then Morgan shows up again.

It was a cute story, although the acting was subpar. And, it was pretty predictable, but I guess most romantic comedies are.

I did like how Scott McNight wasn't a womanizer like I picture most NBA stars to be. I also thought it was interesting that it showed players on opposite teams being friends. I hadn't really thought about them having friendships with their opponents.

The Bounty Hunter

This movie is about a divorced couple that comes together when the ex-husband gets hired to track down his ex-wife because she skipped a court appearance when she got a lead for a newspaper story she's working on (thus resulting in a warrant for her).

Parts were funny, other parts were not worth watching.

There aren't many great movies being made these days.

The Backup Plan

I decided to rent this when Matt was out of town (since I knew he didn't want to see it). I should have gone with his feelings-definitely not a winner of a show.

Zoe's going on with life, and decides she wants a baby (although she's not married and far from even having a relationship). She gets artificially inseminated, and then meets a guy. They fall for each other, and stay together even though she's pregnant.

The acting was ok, but it just wasn't a great show.

Dear John

Matt and I watched Dear John a few months ago. John, a soldier, is home on leave. He meets Savannah and they're together for two weeks or so and they fall in love. They keep in touch through letters when he goes back. (Totally reminded me of a missionary situation.) They have plans to be together as soon as his time is up, but following September 11, John reenlists. Savannah eventually sends him a "Dear John" telling him she's marrying someone else. And it goes on from there.

Overall it was a descent story, but I didn't like several things. I didn't feel like the "night in the barn" was necessary. And, I was totally bugged at Savannah's actions when John saw her after she was married. At least he was strong and left, but what a skank. You decide to marry someone-you deal with the consequences (even if you still love the other guy).

Alice in Wonderland

Okay everyone. Let's all have a round of applause for my first post on this blog. It's a big day, I know. Anyway, I think Andrea asked me a couple weeks ago what I thought about this movie, so I thought I'd do the full-fledged review.

The story goes along pretty well with the original. Same characters, same events (mostly). Johnny Depp obviously looks a little freaky, but he does an awesome job as the Mad Hatter. I thought the girl playing Alice did a pretty good job. The Queen of Hearts was awesome! The visuals were really well done in my opinion.

I'd give this movie two thumbs up, and I'd definitely watch it again. This is one I'll probably buy. Maybe a little scary for kids, but then you never know.